While we recognize a special volunteer each month who stands out, there are only a handful over the years who have received this recognition more than once. December symbolizes the season of giving but our Volunteer of the Month this December, Steve Miszkiewicz, represents giving throughout the years. Steve, a Rhode Island native, actually never had dogs while growing up but his natural affinity for them was strengthened as he began helping his son raise his three dogs. They became a very big part of Steve’s life providing him with much healthy exercise and happy play time which will be of great help as he will be chasing his 6-month-old grandson, Jeffrey Jr., soon enough when this little bundle of energy will be more mobile.
Steve recalls that “there’s been so many dogs that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with at our shelter. But a few stand out.” His fond memories started with a beautiful dog our shelter rescued back in 2019 as he shared that “she was a very nervous dog that had problems with men. I spent a lot of time with her gaining her trust. She changed with all our volunteers’ help. I had her several times at my house during hurricanes. She was adopted from our shelter and I’m sure she’s having a great life.” And more recently, Steve helped a lovely dog Sheila, who was at our shelter for quite a while for no fault of her own and was later transferred to a partnering shelter. When some dogs and cats have less interest from our community, we try to network them to other larger shelters who have more resources and a larger population, thus giving the pets greater chances for adoption. Steve told us that he “took her on weekly field trips. She was such a different dog outside our shelter. And we always stopped for a vanilla ice cream on our way back! All reports are that she is doing well and is available for adoption. I really encourage our volunteers to take a dog on a field trip. It does wonders for our dogs.” Steve has additionally helped with dogs who needed some rehab time after surgeries, gave basic training to many and participated with other volunteers in our “Doggy Day Out” program where volunteers can give a dog a respite from the shelter for a few hours walking at a local park and share a packed lunch, a visit at pet-friendly restaurant, or relaxing in a lanai watching a ballgame with a new friend. Our dogs love the day out and it provides our shelter team with very helpful feedback on how they did, to add to their adoption profiles.
Steve has been actively involved in the growth of our shelter’s playgroup program under the framework of Dogs Playing For Life. He explains what positive impact playgroups are to shelter dogs, allowing them to get their energy out with dogs of similar personalities and energy levels, learn important social skills and how playgroups allow shelter staff and volunteers to best match them to interested adopters. Steve explains that “I’ve seen so much improvement with our playgroup dogs. They get a lot of exercise and socialization with other dogs. I really feel that this program helps with adoptions. Please come out and see a playgroup. I’m sure it will make you happy. And we can always use additional help. The more volunteers that help will allow us to do more playgroups. We can use helpers to bring and return dogs from the playgroups. We can get many more dogs into playgroups with the assistance of helpers.”
Humane Society Sumter County wants to thank one of those great gifts, Steve himself. He gives so much, making such a positive difference in the lives of animals across our community. Steve added that “I just want to thank all of the volunteers and staff at our shelter. It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of them. They are all so dedicated. Several are now friends of mine. Keep up the good work.” We hope his giving inspires many other like-minded animal lovers to think of what their New Year’s resolution will be and how they want to make a difference in the coming year. Steve is saving lives, and we could always use more people like him.
We’re proud to have Steve Miszkiewicz as part of our team and congratulate him once again as our Volunteer of the Month for December. If you are interested in becoming a valuable member of our team, complete a volunteer application and see what a positive impact it will have on YOUR life and an animal’s!
